Six Arrested Following €12 Million Armed Raid on Precious Metals Facility in France
Six armed perpetrators equipped with military-grade weapons detonated charges to force entry into a gold treatment facility located in Lyon, France, causing light wounds to five employees during what is being called the latest high-profile daytime heist to affect the country.
The daring raid occurred on Thursday afternoon, with officers quickly arresting the alleged criminals and retrieving the loot estimated to be worth €12 million (£10.5M), according to officials.
Five staff members of the gold refining company received light wounds due to the explosion, and three employees required hospital checks for examination, officials confirmed. A total of twenty-eight staff were inside the facility when the robbers attacked.
The suspects, thought to be career criminals, were detained soon afterwards in the adjacent municipality of VĂ©nissieux, according to investigative sources.
A female participant who participated in the heist was likewise arrested, a police source indicated.
“Six individuals who used detonations in an assault targeting a metals processing plant in the Lyon area were arrested at the scene,” France's security official announced via X, praising officers for their “firmness, rapid response and command”.
High-caliber firearms, handguns and detonation devices were recovered as well.
The raid happened as French police on Thursday apprehended five additional individuals, including a primary suspect, in regarding the bold Louvre museum robbery.
Numerous detectives have been hunting four robbers who employed a truck equipped with a moving lift and cutting gear to breach a first-floor gallery at the renowned museum on 19 October, making off with precious items estimated to be worth €88M.
In another notable incident, burglars recently entered illegally the Natural History Museum in Paris, making off with gold samples worth over $1 million. A woman from China, aged 24 was apprehended in the current month in Barcelona in connection with the break-in, prosecutors stated.
The sequence of heists has sparked worry in France regarding inadequate security measures at museums and various establishments holding high-value objects.